question about using CSS instead of Frames

I've made several pages, either using frames or CSS, but I've never used CSS to replace frames. So what I'm wondering is, how do you have your navigation links on one side and your "main frame" in the center where each page will show up, without using frames? You can Email me at Krayziegirlang@yahoo.com or if you have AOL/AIM you can IM me at ZineSenderGirl. Thanks!!

Frames are bad for usability and SEO, so it's good that you are looking for a solution to avoid this. To your question which I don't completely understand, it's only frames and iframes where another page can show up within.

But, you can make a div "look like" an iframe.

CSS:
.maindiv
{width:300px;
height:50px;
overflow:auto;
border:1px solid #000;
}

DIV:

<div class="maindiv">Lot's of text here...</div>

Don't know if this is what you are looking for.

I don't think CSS was meant to replace frames. As clunky as they are, frames do have their use.

If you're trying to emulate the functionality of a frame (as in, clicking a link in the navigation frame and having the page load in the main frame) you could probably accomplish this by using JavaScript to dynamically write different contents into a main div when different links are clicked but in my opinion this idea is rediculously troublesome and not guaranteed (users can turn of JS)

I honestly think a complete site redesign is your best option... Users aren't comfortable with using frames, especially iFrames and similar objects. To get links on the left, i'd use two divisions: one for your content and one for your links.

The CSS:


The XHTML Markup:


This is a loosely coded example.
I don't promise that it works, but it might lead you on your way.
Some research on CSS and XHTML would help.